lisafrommassachusetts

I think the quarantine may be getting to us all. @marvelgirl25 the sorry you're going through all this, and what a scary time to need medical intervention. @summerset is a very helpful teammate... remember we lose tone and nuance in this type of medium. No one wants anything but to be supportive and helpful.

Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Best of luck, and so, so glad it was not more serious.

Congratulations! And enjoy the return to coffee. I got to have it after 40 days...I am amazed at what a difference it made in my energy level....

• You look terrific, strong and happy. Congratulations!

Congratulations! You look great

I am beyond frustrated. Bypass 1/14/20
highest weight: 276lbs
surgery weight: 248lbs
current weight: 214lbs
I have not lost a single pound or inch in TWO stinking months. I have changed my habits so much, I’ve increased my exercise. I’m now walking 3 times a day and putting in a total of almost 4 miles a day. I’m getting at least 80 grams of Protein a day. At least 100 oz of Water a day. My daily carb intake stays below 90 grams a day. My daily fat intake stays below 60 grams a day. I stay completely away from sugar. I swapped all the fruit I eat in a day with vegetables. I’m just at a loss. I’ve stayed away from the scale for two weeks and still nothing. I feel broken and like I’m a rare case that the surgery just doesn’t work for me. I’m at a loss.

If you had surgery 2 months ago you have lost 34 pounds. Am I missing something?

Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

I will try to up my Water tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback!

I had my surgery 6 weeks ago; I had a bit of a set back before and after the surgery; I had the flu before and then I got sick with the flu again 3 weeks after the surgery (I think it was flu...who knows, they would not test me). Anyway, I was full with 500 calories a day, and was just trying to hit my Protein and fluids. In the last week my energy has really rebounded! Which is great, and I am walking over 10,000 steps a day (4 plus miles). I find myself getting hungry much faster! I am eating around 650 to 700 calories, but I am often hungry. Not sure if this is really hunger because of moving so much more, or stress/time on my hands because of the virus and working from home, or if it head hunger. Thoughts?

It is heartening to be reminded of the good things folks are doing to respond to this crisis...To quote Mr. Rogers "Look for the helpers." I see this in my immediate community and across the nation. Couple of things, though.

1. I don't believe, and I don't see any evidence that "Communist China" did this "to us". Everyone of course is entitled to their own opinion, but the unspoken premise of the post is that.

2. People are really suffering, physically, emotionally and financially. While it is not all grim, let's acknowledge it ain't all a Bing Crosby musical, either.

3. If ever there was a time to think globally, act locally, it is now. I can't make ventilators, but I can practice social distancing, wash my hands and be mindful of what I am touching, so maybe we need one less ventilator this week. I don't have the wealth necessary to address this financial crisis, but I can donate an extra $10.00 this week to our local "healthcare for the homeless" coalition that is trying to get folks housed to ride this out in someplace other than open air, cot to cot shelters. I am not a healthcare provider, but I know folks who are, and I can reach out to them if for no other reason than to say thanks; I bought a bag full of markers and coloring books, sidewalk chalk, and bubbles, washed it all down with bleach and vinegar, and called and left it outside my neighbor's house; the mom is a nurse pulling 12 hour shifts.

Just one lady's thoughts...my state is in a state of emergency and all non-essential businesses are closed. I work for the City, so I physically go to work 2 days one week and 3 days the next and WFH the other days; I have a paycheck coming in. I vacillate from "we're going to be ok" to "this is terrifying and I am terrified". While I do know folks who have tested positive, they have had mild cases. I know that the ICUs are filling up, and every day there are more deaths. My friends who are doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are scared. We are having more and more police and firefighters test positive. My husband's great aunt is in a long term care facility that has 8 residents that have tested positive so far; she is 93 and not likely to survive if she gets this. Her kids are devastated that they can't even go in and visit with her. My own husband is out of work, he was laid off as of Feb. 28, before this really hit and unrelated to it, BUT there are no jobs to apply for. We personally will be ok, and I have a lot to be grateful for.

Hope everyone stays healthy and safe, connected and engaged.

I'm also about 6 weeks out! I was sleeved on Feb. 10. I was cleared for all foods after 40 days. The guidance I got was to try to introduce foods one at a time, so I can tell if I can tolerate them. So far I have not had any trouble. I use MyFitnessPal to track; my goal is at least 60 gs of Protein per day. Some days I'm great, some days I struggle a bit, so I am adjusting my meals to make sure I comfortably hit 60 or more. Here is a couple of my immediate past days:

Tues: egg fried with cooking spray with leftover spinach on top, 2 turkey sausage links; mid-morning: Protein Drink (20g protein); lunch: 2 oz. tuna with mayo made with olive oil and 1/2 serving high protein cheese snacks; Mid afternoon chicken Bone Broth; Dinner: 1 and a half ground beef meatballs; with diced tomatoes and 1 tbl. grated parmesian and 1/2 cup spaghetti squash. After dinner snack: handful of mixed nuts and a sugar free hot choc.

Wed: Breakfast: Iconic Protein Powder with 2 oz. Premier Protein drink added; mid-morning: hard boiled egg; Lunch: 2 slices deli turkey with 2 tbl. reduced fat cheddar and 1/4 of Granny Smith Apple used to make roll ups; mid afternoon: 1/2 serving of high protein cheese Snacks and about 10 green grapes; Dinner: 1 link Italian Turkey Sausage cooked in diced tomatoes, spinach and cauliflower crumbles (about 1/4 cup of sauce) and 1/2 c. left over spaghetti squash; after dinner: handful of nuts and a sugar free popsicle.

What I am not eating: Pasta, bread, potatoes, rice. I also have not added in butter or oils, I am cooking without them mostly. I have made some Soups and tried to punch up the protein; I made some split pea Soup in the slow cooker and added some protein powder to punch it up. I also was eating a lot of fish, but we have not been to the grocery store in the last few days so I don't have any fresh fish right now, and I just don't care for frozen fish. I did pick up some frozen shrimp last time I was there and will make a shrimp salad one of these days.

One of the nutritionists at my facility told me protein, protein, protein. She also said to be successful long term you need to find protein rich foods that you LIKE and that fit in your lifestyle, otherwise you will feel deprived/burdened and that is when you are likely to fill up on the wrong things.

Hope this helps a bit!

17 hours ago, krfecht@mac.com said:

Had bypass the 6th of Feb. have done pretty good and have trouble getting enough Protein. Have been getting the Vitamins via Patches and so much easier than crushing. Also have trouble drinking the Water I need so have started sucking on ice cubes.

Good luck to you! You are quite a ways past surgery to still have to crush your Vitamins. are you eating solid food yet? I found it easier to get my Protein in once I could eat some actual food.

17 hours ago, Xx1jpt5xx said:

It's been a tough couple days. My wife was pregnant and we lost the baby a few days ago. Normally I would eat to cope but since I cant do that I'm having a tough time.

She had to have emergency surgery because of it and I've had to pick up the slack with our son. Guess I overdid it and am now having sharp pains under my right side incision.

I am so sorry for your loss! What a difficult time for you and your family. Sending you lots of warmth and healing thoughts.

@wjgo, how are you doing? A friend of mine said to me yesterday "we are one day closer to this being over". That is my mantra for today!

Some very good suggestions on this chain! I am so new to this (my surgery was only Feb. 10th) that I want to try to assure that I don't screw this up from the beginning! On my work from home days (I still have to go in MW one week, MWF the next week) I am going to follow the suggestion to have set times to eat and stick to it. Otherwise I find I don't eat anything until nearly noon, then I am "eating" small meals all day to get the Protein in.

I for one find these days really terrifying. One minute the whole thing seems unlikely, like when my husband and I are on a wooded trail with our dog and the sun is shining; but then the reality comes crashing back. One of my kids and her husband left NYC and are hunkered down in the lower level of her MIL's home in NJ; my adult son is staying with us (short term, until he relocates to NYC to be with his gf, now on hold for who knows how long). His gf came to visit this week-end; we tried to maintain distance but who knows. She is going to her parents vacation home outside of NYC to ride this out. They don't know when they will next see each other, it was really, really sad watching them say good-bye. Meanwhile, I'm weighing 2 0z. of chicken for my dinner! It almost seems absurd. I need to channel my energy into something, it ordinarily (I think) would have included cooking which I'm just not doing right now.

Good luck everyone! It's ok to be scared, and sometimes we focus on what we can control.

My heart is breaking for you. I don't know if it is any consolation, but you are most definitely not alone. All of us are feeling more scared and anxious than ever before.

You have already fought a huge battle! You have lost so much weight, and come so far. One of the things that this journey has probably taught you is moderation. If gaming is mentally a break for you right now, give yourself that break, but make sure you limit it to what is actually helpful, not harmful. Say you decide on 3 hours per day, stick to that. Gaming will also let you have social contact with other humans without physical contact.

I have been stuck in my house due to pre-surgery flu, then post surgery, then I had a nasty cold that coincided with the uptick in concerns about CoVid 19. I set an alarm at 10 of every hour, and walked around my house just to keep myself moving! I NEVER felt like doing it, but made myself get at least 250 steps, and most times I would keep going for 5 or 10 minutes. I know it isn't hiking Everest, but it is what I could do.

Your financial worries have to be so discouraging. The only little light at the end of that tunnel is that the whole country is facing this! They are going to have to give relief, and you will be positioned to take advantage of that. It is going to be a whole new world once we come out the other side; my guess is that lots of places are going to get a lot more serious about cleaning and sanitizing workplaces, so maybe your chosen profession will have a whole new lease on life! If not, my fervent hope is that once this ends the country gets serious about pivoting toward green or environmentally friendly industries, and we will have a "new deal" type financial bail out that is for ALL of us, not just big banks and airlines. Hang in there, I am 90% sure there will be eviction and/or foreclosure moratoriums. You need to focus on maintaining shelter, food, utilities. Everything else right now will have to wait. I know that you have probably spent a lifetime building your business, your credit, etc., but right now we all have to go to survival mode.

I hope you find a way to connect with folks, maybe through an online group that shares some interests. The evidence is strong that even a short walk each day in nature helps restore our mental health. I am a person with little or no "hobbies" except for reading, travel and listening to live music. I can't sit and read all darn day! So I have decided to try some container gardening...I'll have either have wasted some time and a little money, Or I will have nice fresh veggies and berries this spring and summer! I am also starting an indoor herb garden. You will find your own interests. Learn a foreign language? Take up knitting? Foster a dog or cat in need? Volunteer to deliver supplies to elders or disabled neighbors (also a job opportunity for that.) You are a good writer, any interest in journaling? You have been through quite a bit, journaling may be a way to process that.

Good luck to you, reach out, try to take heart, when the dark thoughts come look for the light. This community is very supportive, use it!

All the best

Lisa

@ResaRoo, it is hard to not have a crunchy snack, right? I ordered some high Protein cheese Snacks (called Cheesies); They don't taste that great to me on their own, but a half serving has 5 g or protein, and my lunch today was 2 g of tuna salad and 1/2 serving of those and it was a nice crunchy way to eat my tuna! Plus, 20g of protein and only 7 carbs for less than 200 k. BTW, I use the Hellman's mayo made with olive oil, it's half the calories and although high in fat it is the "good" fat. I don't like the regular light Mayonnaise, it is too sweet for me.

@niffer, thank you for the tip! I'll add it to my next Amazon order, although I am feeling hesitant to order any "non-essentials" from Amazon right now.

After 40 days, I got to have coffee this morning! And, it tastes awful! lol. I used to have half and half and some sugar; I tried it this morning with some Premier Caramel, and nope, can't drink it. I may have made it too strong, or maybe coffee is something in my past 😢 Has anyone found a good "creamer" for coffee?

I am almost 7 weeks and have only lost 17 pounds since surgery. I don't think it's humanly possible to lose 121 pounds in 7 weeks!

Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

It is interesting adding new foods! Tonight my husband and son wanted take out Mexican; I ordered fish tacos, and ate one, without the taco part. About 1.5 oz of fish, a tablespoon of salsa and a slice of avocado. Yum! And I am starting to imagine what going out with friends to eat may end up looking like; Lots of ordering off the appetizer menu I'm thinking. Of course, we have no restaurants open for anything except take out or delivery. My heart is breaking for all the folks losing their jobs, and for the small business owners.

I'm finding I want 5 to 6 little "meals" a day. For example, I just ate 2 oz. of rotisserie chicken; I want a little Protein before I go to sleep. My calories are between 600 and 700, usually right around 650. How are other folks doing as you add foods?

@IAmGrace; I don't really get "full" either in the way that I used to; but after I eat a surprisingly small amount I start to get the hiccups or get a feeling in my chest that I am starting to recognize as "full".

I am now eating between 600 and 700 a day; I was over 700 today. I find I have to be very rigid; I have Breakfast, lunch, dinner and 1 or 2 "snacks" depending on where I am for Protein that day. Otherwise I could eat (but certainly don't need to) 1/2 hour after I last ate. My nutritionist warned about "grazing". Certainly at 700 or 800 calories a day you will still lose weight, but once we can ingest more the grazing will lead to weight gain.

I'm getting a bit more adventurous with food; I had a small amount of corned beef and cabbage, and today I had the ground beef part of some Shepard's Pie. But I do find 2 or 2.5 ounces are plenty. I am using very small plates, and I stop eating when the food is gone, and I realize I am not hungry!

I hope your cold is just a cold; I hope mine is, too. I am a bit worried because I feel like my immune system is not very robust right now; I had the actual flu right before my surgery (in fact it delayed my surgery for one week), then back to back colds, and with such low calories I feel like I don't have much to fight off any virus. And I am 61, so in that respect I am "high risk", too. My work is doing 5 days out of every 10; so there are very few people in my office.

I hope you are in a comfortable situation to ride this out! Wishing you health and happiness!

Hi Folks:
I have no doubt that there are lots of you out there who have recently had a gastric sleeve or bypass in the Boston area.
My sleeve was done on February 26 at MassGeneral by Denise Gee.
I feel very well. Maybe too well. I find that I don't feel "full" as some describe here. Actually I don't remember feeling full since I was a little kid and that was a very long time ago. I'm just about 3 weeks out from surgery and I'm down 10 pounds. Doesn't seem like much but when you average it out it's about 3 pounds a week so I guess that's not bad. I waiting for the "big weight drop" but right not it's not feeling like it's going to happen!
Please drop me a note .... I would love to compare notes.
Grace

I'm not from Boston proper, but I had my surgery done at Brigham and women's on February 10. I'm feeling great, except for a cold I am not shaking. I'm down 17 from the date of surgery, 27 from pre op to now, so about the same pace as you. How are you feeling overall?

Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Until I started eating more food I was really struggling with the liquids, and plain Water just wasn't doing it! It's better now, but I still need it full if ice

Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Good morning all! I hope everyone is doing well with these post-op weeks. And staying healthy as we face this pandemic! I start full foods this week-end; I actually had a little corned beef yesterday; 2 ounces of sliced lean corned beef with a couple of carrots and some cabbage. Tasted delicious and I tolerated it fine.

By and large I have had no problems adding foods; My calories tend to be between 550 and 650; Yesterday, however they were well over 700! How odd that 700 calories seems like a lot, what a different perspective from 6 weeks ago.

I'm still battling a cold...it is just hanging on. This is NOT the time you want to cough in public, by the way. My work has gone to skeleton crew; I go in Mon., Wed. and every other Friday. I work from home, but everything is so slowed down; I actually like being in the office because it feels more normal.

These are anxious times. I find I am enjoying community where I find it! My book group is doing a "virtual" meeting, not bad for a bunch of aging baby boomers; My extended family is doing a group email where someone is posting pretty much daily and I enjoy hearing about my nieces, nephews and grands, as well as hearing from my brothers and their wives. My friends and I have re-discovered phone visits. We are not banned from public parks, yet, so we have taken some nice walks.

I'm trying to remember to be grateful! That and not hoarding toilet paper! Our local foodbanks are really being stretched, so we've made an effort to make a monetary donation and my office has a donation box. Everyone seems to be doing what they can.

Take care of yourselves and each other! I love reading your updates.

6 hours ago, summerset said:

It gets harder by the day, my dear, though I know you're most likely right with what you're saying.

I'm going back to work on Thursday. I work at the biggest hospital in the area. We already have COVID-9 patients, including critical ones. And every damn patient is getting a CT scan of the lung before going to ICU or IMC. My colleagues tell me people are already freaking out, face masks are limited to one per shift and here I am sitting at home being only 3 weeks post-op wondering if my immune system is still kind of compromised. Hopefully not.

Oh, well... I guess if one catches it, one catches it. Wash hands, wear a mask when necessary and protection clothing and hope for the best. At least I'm not working on the ICU.

Good luck! Hopefully the steps we are now taking (or being strongly encouraged to take) will, in fact, "flatten the curve" and you and all the other folks on the front lines in this crisis don't get totally swamped. I worry for all my friends in healthcare; it's hard to fight off the virus when you are working under such stressful conditions. My thankful thoughts are with you.